October 14, 2009

Kitchen Tip: Mincing Garlic

Can't stand your stinky hands after a day of hacking away at those cloves?

Do you ever find yourself thinking, "There must be an easier way"???

Look no further!

We met a TV food personality (revealed below) earlier this summer who imparted to us several pieces of wisdom. But there's one that we've used pretty much every week since meeting her.

Rather than using a knife to mince garlic for dishes, she uses a Microplane. It's a trick she picked up from lauded DC chef Michel Richard, and as she said, "If it's good enough for him, it's good enough for me." Us too!

If you don't have one, a Microplane is a handy tool in the kitchen. It makes zesting fruits an absolute breeze and is a fantastic device for grating cheese.

We have two kinds. The first is a Microplane Grater/Zester ($11.95 at Amazon.com) that we use mostly for mincing garlic and for zesting fruit. The second is a Microplane Course Grater ($13.95 at Amazon.com) that we use primarily for shredding cheese, but can also be used for cutting garlic into larger pieces.

Microplaning garlic is an easy shortcut that doesn't diminish the garlic flavor. Of course, there are still dishes where we want larger pieces of garlic, and for that we pull out a knife, but in most day-to-day cooking, the Microplane does the trick.

So what chef taught this kitchen trick to us?

Hootie Hoo!

Earlier this summer, Zach surprised Clay with a trip to CulinAerie, a cooking school in downtown D.C.

At least part of the reason for choosing this particular class was the instructor, Carla Hall, of Top Chef/"Hootie hoo!" fame. We've been big fans of the show, and as DC-ers, we were rooting for Carla, who lives and works here.

As you can imagine, she was a lot of fun. A hoot, even.

Give your garlic a go on the Microplane and let us know how it turns out.

Comments

Can't stand your stinky hands after a day of hacking away at those cloves?

Do you ever find yourself thinking, "There must be an easier way"???

Look no further!

We met a TV food personality (revealed below) earlier this summer who imparted to us several pieces of wisdom. But there's one that we've used pretty much every week since meeting her.

Rather than using a knife to mince garlic for dishes, she uses a Microplane. It's a trick she picked up from lauded DC chef Michel Richard, and as she said, "If it's good enough for him, it's good enough for me." Us too!

If you don't have one, a Microplane is a handy tool in the kitchen. It makes zesting fruits an absolute breeze and is a fantastic device for grating cheese.

We have two kinds. The first is a Microplane Grater/Zester ($11.95 at Amazon.com) that we use mostly for mincing garlic and for zesting fruit. The second is a Microplane Course Grater ($13.95 at Amazon.com) that we use primarily for shredding cheese, but can also be used for cutting garlic into larger pieces.

Microplaning garlic is an easy shortcut that doesn't diminish the garlic flavor. Of course, there are still dishes where we want larger pieces of garlic, and for that we pull out a knife, but in most day-to-day cooking, the Microplane does the trick.